Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 332,245 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 510,853 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 332,245 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $39,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,265,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,781,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $569,175,000 after buying an additional 101,078 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,565,974 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $378,483,000 after buying an additional 94,209 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,844,882 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $329,452,000 after purchasing an additional 67,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Daiwa America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $77.72. The company had a trading volume of 38,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,809,370. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $82.41. The firm has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.93.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology.